Only One SBK Race Before Their Return to Monterey

Intercity Istanbul Park will be the 46th track to host a World Superbike round, the third introduced in this decade after Motorland (2011) and Moscow (2012).

In the previous decade (2000-2009) nine new venues made their debut in the series: Valencia and Oschersleben in 2000, Lausitzring and Imola in 2001, Silverstone in 2002, Losail in 2005, Vallelunga in 2007, Miller Motorsport Park and Portimao in 2008. Among these, three are still present in the current calendar: Imola, Silverstone and Algarve.

Seven riders in the 2013 WSBK field have already raced at the Intercity Istanbul track before:

Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) took part in all of the three MotoGP events held in Turkey (from 2005 to 2007), scoring points in every occasion. Melandri won in the first two editions and was 5th in 2007, while Checa has a best result of 5th in 2005.

Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) raced in Turkey both in the 250 cc class (2005 and 2006) and in MotoGP (2007), with a best result of 6th (2006).

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) have contested the Turkish Grand Prix once, twice and three times respectively in the 250cc World Championship, but they all failed to finish in the points.

Federico Sandi (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) rode three times at the Intercity Istanbul Park, in 125 cc, but never finished in the top-15.